TRANSFORMERS REGENERATION ONE #100 – SCRIPT (W)RAP

It’s the end of an era. After 30 years and 100 (or so) somewhat interrupted issues, the founding/grounding Transformers saga reaches its epic conclusion. RG1 #100 (#100 in a four-issue limited series!) hits the stands this Wednesday (March 19th), and one way or another it is, definitively, the end. Storylines years in the making are wrapped up as the full extent of the threat to Cybertron (or is that Cybertrons?) is revealed. Of course, I’m not going to spoil anything here. Just to say that this is a conclusion not just to Regeneration One, but to the whole 100 (or so) issue saga. Seeds of this were sown waaay back, and while the substance of the overall threat has become more all-encompassing in the intervening years (between when the original series finished back in 1991 and RG1 starting up), the basic premise is what I was always pushing towards. Hopefully, it all ties together pretty nicely. But I’ll leave that for you, the reader, to judge. What I can reveal is that as well as three titanic Transformers artists (Andrew Wildman, Geoff Senior and Guido Guidi) combining their talents for #100, there’s a host of bonus material, including afterwords, bonus art, and a special prose story that deals with another layer of the conclusion we simply didn’t have room for in the main story (and come with a nifty illustration by JP). It’s a no ads, cover to cover, giant-sized fest of RG1 goodness. Don’t miss it. BTW, if you’re in or around London on March 29th, come to Orbital Comics and get your copy signed by (virtually) the whole team — myself, Andrew, Geoff, JP, Stephen and Jason. A preview of the issue can be viewed here.

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88 Responses to TRANSFORMERS REGENERATION ONE #100 – SCRIPT (W)RAP

Hi simon, as you say it is the end of a era, it will be with great sadness when I read this last issue,
I would just like to say thank you to you and the whole team who have worked on it.
It’s over…it’s finished.. But does it ever really end…
Can’t wait to read it!

Reblogged this on wildwords and commented:
Yep. Its happening. I will write a post about it in the next few days but for now, here is Simon Furman’s ‘Script Wrap’ for this, the FINAL issue of the long running Transformers story.

I’m curious to know what seeds that were sown come into play here in this issue. Reading the preview it now seems that it perhaps wasn’t Primus who warned Hot Rod way back in issue 94, or maybe it was but a corrupted Primus in which case does his whole warning now mean nothing?

One more sleep to go and I shall be reading this and finally getting the answers I need.

The prose story sounds interesting as I’m pretty sure this is a get out of jail free card for a continuation of sorts should demand arise

I think the ideas at play go back to the matrix quest. A lot of the late UK marvel work touched upon the whole enemy within etc, but not in this way. I’m not really sure what ties into the pre Simon run, but I can’t wait to see how it ends.

Yeah the script wrap does sound quite grandiose in it’s claims that this will feel like a conclusion to the entire run. If we’re just talking US stuff then the main threads to play with will be:

Augmentations such as Master technology
Underbase
Buster possessing the Matrix

Many of these we have already seen creeping into the main stories and I think that the Master tech will somehow spell doom for everyone.

Matrix Quest and the Nucleon set up alot of the background for the stories in RG1. Maybe nucleon and the gene key are what turned Primus to the dark side, would certainly put the whole gene key arc in a different light with critics?

Just finished reading #100 (iTunes’d it, couldn’t wait). No spoilers in my comments, just a thank you for writing what is, for me, a perfect ending to Gen 1. I grew up with Gen 1 (TF UK!), and I think this wraps up the story perfectly within the larger Transformers franchise as it currently stands in 2014, with the film, IDW ongoing et al. Back when I was reading Target 2006, you helped me understand the concept of parallel universes and I think you’ve built successfully on that with the concept of the multiverses. Each new “reboot” being a a variant. Other SF franchises may be playing along with the same principles, but with this ending you’ve written something unique to Transformers. Cleverly tipping hats to older and younger generation fans. For this ol’ fan, it’s the ending I wasn’t expecting but throughly enjoyed. Thank you for continuing and ‘completing’ Gen 1, am sure it will never end.

I…really was not expecting all that. But, I want to say that I really did enjoy the conclusion. It was both sad, uplifting, and appropriate all at the same time. And it really did wrap up all loose ends. What I really liked was that the ending reflected on the impact of the Great War, and how it can have great consequences on everything else. Thus, to negate those effects, a tremendous sacrifice must be made to balance things out…to redeem the Transformers as a race, if you will. Well done!

Wondered why he wasn’t with Soundwave and now I know . In truth he was always a loner and he took sides with Shockwave in the Decepticon civil war against Scorponok and Soundwave . That decision seems to be paying dividends for him now.

But it is also a logical progression of the character .

If I may pester you one last time , what happened to Trypticon ?

You did say there was a chance of an appearence . What were the plans for him and why did they change ?

Other than that not much else to say . Except heartfelt thanks to Simon and all who made RG1 possible and enjoyable .

Yeah, sorry about Trypticon. All the way through final arc I had him in mind, but he’s such a BIG character, just to have him as background/cameo appearance felt wrong somehow. And try as I might, he felt like a square peg in the round hole of everything else I had going on. So I decided in the end not to just force him in for the sake of it. We were so tight for space. Poor Ravage almost didn’t make it in either, but luckily I got to do King of Shadows as a kind of side story.

I liked the idea for the ending, but your execution was flawed. So many great characters wasted over this entire run. Scorponok dies a hero in Marvel, and then goes on to fall down a hole for his ultimate demise. Shockwave and Screamer did pretty much nothing for 20 issues, and Shockwave was stuck to a ship for most of it. Now add Fortress Maximus to that list. Died way better in G2, here he was pretty much a pointless addition to the story, as was Jhiaxus. Prime dead again, he never seemed to have much a story to begin with. So much for Galvatron being the spawn of a god if Magnus can take him out so easly, not that I didn’t like Magnus taking him out, but I would have liked more a fight. The actual ending for the Transformers was good, but as a fan of these characters, characters you once made so great, I am extremely disappointed. Over all, looking at the whole thing as a whole, you could have done way bettter. My opinion.

Shame you didn’t like it. Lots of people did. It’s proving to be one of those divisive things. But… can’t please all the people all the time. In the end, it’s the conclusion I felt best drew a line under things. You can debate the likes of Galvatron back and forth, but that, in the end, is just your opinion. Mine is that he’d been blasted by a Warworld and possessed by the Dark Matrix, so he was no longer the unstoppable thing he once was. As for Fort Max, I agree, he was rather short-changed. But my rationale was not to leave anything hanging, including the heads of the original Autobot Headmasters. Also, his usage by the DM creature pays into Spike’s state of mind (which is critical to the opening of the rift between realities). It’s no coincidence DMC uses Fort Max to kidnap him.

Again, you just didn’t explain that though. Why would being possessed by the DMC make him less unstoppable? And it looked like he was recovered from the Warworld blast. I mean this is Galvatron, he’s taken a lot more punishment then this and still gotten up like nothing happened. But whatever. I’m glad a lot of people liked it Simon, but even though you may not want to see it, a lot of people didn’t either. So much so that I question your 2 to 1 comment lower down. Don’t know, maybe we’re looking at different boards.

1) Is the Hub Network completely destroyed? What happened to the next gen Transformers like Rook? With that many planets I thought there would be millions of them.

2) What happened to the Underbase? Starscream / Underbase flies in but is Jhiaxus dead or merged with the Underbase? Did the Underbase fly off as energy leaving Starscream’s body behind for Shockwave to rescue? Jhiaxus said that some of the Autobots would be given new bodies and identies. In G2 his soldiers were created via budding. In Regen he says that he was going to use the matrix energy in Rodimus to create more soldiers but did budding exist as well?

3) Did Rodimus bring a matrix back from Zero Space or just touch it? I thought you said earlier he only touched it. But then in #100 the dark matrix entity says that it needs a matrix. Which one? One in the multiverse?

4) Were the Transformers essentially immortal (as long as they didn’t die in a fight) because of Primus and later from matrix energy from other multiverses? So now they all died including Rodimus. Was there any other method to create new life such as remaining matrix energy or budding?

1) The Hub network is destroyed. And without Jhiaxus the next gen TFs are a little aimless, like a flock. As Rodimus puts it, “that’s what happens when you subtract uniqueness from the gene pool.” And Jetfire theorises (in #97) that despite the scale of the Hub Network, there may not actually be that many Next Genners.

2) Underbase (or rather the minds that had become its kind of sentient aspect) simply returned to beings of pure thought (now complete, with Jhiaxus, the fifth mind). And we don’t really see how Jhiaxus ‘created’ his next genners, or by what process.

3) He doesn’t bring the physical Matrix back, but the Matrix recreates him, and so becomes a part of him. I don’t see the Matrix as as physical thing. That structure is just a container for this ‘piece of Primus’ energy that passes from Prime to Prime.

4) The Primus overbeing essentially encompasses all realities at once. But in each there is a ‘physical’ aspect. So while that Primus had been destroyed, the G1-verse was still a part of that bigger, perhaps infinitely maintaining whole. But once cut off, they become more mortal… and eventually (after a long, long time) die of (effectively) old age. But the Matrix energy/creatoion force is still within Prime, which is why he is the last. But energy can’t be destroyed (see issue #0), only transformed. Which is what happens at the end. The cycle starts again.

I haven’e read this yet but I am very excited for it to arrive. It is also with great sadness that my favourite comic of all time, a comic I bought from issue 1 (Transformers UK) all the way through to this.

I have recently introduced my nephews to the Transformers comics and I think they made me realise something, as I was only young when I first bought it (sorry if this makes you feel old Simon!!). They absolutely love this, they are not keen on the other IDW Transformers as they find the stories hard to follow and complain that there isn’t much transforming going on but they absolutely enjoy everything about Regeneration One for the great characters and fantastic stories. I’ve now let them read my collections of the Marvel stories too. The point is I know that I would feel the same at their age and quite honestly I share their sentiments.

Most people probably don’t realise that the Marvel comic came first, before the cartoon, and started it all. Thank you Simon and your team for bringing this back & giving us the original Transformers story the ending it deserved, the greatest Transformers saga of them all.

I think what happens is that Rodimus is walking on Cybertron in the very far future and as he finally dies, whatever matrix energy that is left in him leaves his body and passes into those pods on the ground and creates the next generation of Cybertronians. This is just how I interpreted the final page, hope it helps you out.

P.S. The being does look female from afar which would be a most interesting change to the Transformers mythos.

I feel the series suffered from the inclusion of all the “multi-verse” nonsense that was really superfluous and felt like complete fanwank throughout. It really took away from the Marvel G1 continuity having to be reminded throughout that this was one of many universes.

The series really feels to me like it was a lost opportunity. The Jhiaxus storyline felt like nothing more than a plot device to remove Rodimus and a core of Autobots from Cybertron for four issues and have the Dark Matrix take it over for them to return, he really served no other purpose in this series, and quite frankly the series would have been better without his introduction.

It’s unfortunate that the series wasn’t more concerned about being G1 based instead of being multiuniversal based. I would have much more preferred to have seen more Autobots verses Decepticons than omnipotent villains coming out of (seemingly) nowhere to give our heroes a headache for five issues at a time.

While this series was an entertaining detour for what it was, for me G1 Transformers still ends with Marvel’s #80 and its rushed ending as with that series at least I didn’t have read about Beryllium Baloney, multiple Rodimi or Grimlock having “The Touch”. :-/

Sorry you fall in the ‘didn’t like camp’. But much as this a conclusion to the original series, I wanted it to embrace the idea of the a Multiverse (as we now have one, when back in 1991 we didn’t). My knowing nods to other facets of the Transformers brand are there to take or leave. Easter eggs if you like. I’m surprised they detract from your enjoyment of the main story so much.

Wrapping up 30 years of Transformers is a huge challenge for anyone to be tasked with, even you Simon.
So many loose ends, so many characters, so many restrictions and above all, an almost oppressive weight of expectation.

With all things considered, I honestly don’t think a better job could have been done by anyone. The very best bit was at the end as Rodimus reveals the fate of the Nebulans, Humans and of course the Cybertronians themselves. It bookended all that had gone before with an abiding sense of sadness and hope. It has been often said that you excel at creating more with less and the last 2 pages are the best example of this that I have ever read.

Simon Furman, Guido Guidi, Andy Wildman, Stephen Baskerville, John-Paul Bovey, Geoff Senior, Chris Mowry, John Barber and everyone else involved deserve a Unicron-sized pat on the back for such a wonderful effort and outstanding results. Thank you very much.

Question coming from me probably won’t be answered, but they need to be asked and more then likely no one else will ask them.

1. Fans, including me, have complained about Scorponok being brought back only to do nothing. Why bring this character you made great, who you gave a great death, only to have him stand on a bridge for 3 issues and then fall down a hole?

2. Why was Shockwave incapicitated for so long, only to be given one issue to do anything of note? He was a great character, fans expected great things, he did nothing for 19 issues.

3. What’s the basis for having Starscream and Shockwave becoming good guys? Doesn’t that go against everything their characters are?

4. Why was Jhiaxus included in the story at all? His arc comes off just as a forced attempt to get key players off cybertron so the Anti-Matrix and kill everyone on Cybertron who isn’t important?

5. Poor Fortress Maximus. Again, Why? Why bring a great character back like that only to do nothing with him. Missed opportunity to do something with Spike.

6. I guess it has to be asked. If you had the chance would you do anything differently?

7. Do you consider this your best work?

8. Prime is another character who seemed to overall have no real story post the Megatron fight? Well up until the last issue that is, where he’s thrown in, and killed off. Do you have an issue with Optimus? Wouldn’t killing him and Megatron together been better? I’ve always thought you should have saved their battle for the last issue. The last fight of the last issue of the last G1 TF comic. The two most iconic figures fighting to the death.

I wouldn’t say I’m trolling, atleast not entirely. I actually consider these legitimate question that should be answered. There aren’t many who read this book who were happy with how he used a lot of these characters. Characters who came off as nothing more than plot devices, and not true people to connect with as a reader.

1. I wouldn’t say he did nothing. For a start, it concluded ‘his’ story. And second, his genetic dabbling and what it produced ‘fed’ the Dark Matrix creature. He basically conquered Cybertron, which is more than any Decepticon has done since Megatron back in the day.

2. Again, that’s just your opinion. His role, until Underbase got a hold of him, was as the ‘brain’ behind Megatron’s conquest of Earth and then the Deus ex Machina of the Ark, aiding and abetting Starscream. Not everything can be how you want it. This will be a shock, but RG1 wasn’t written with just you in mind, Sean.

3. So in your mind all characters should stay exactly as they are when they start out? Not progress or evolve at all? Both Shockwave and Starscream are literally remade by Underbase and then almost every other Decepticon is wiped out and Cyberton made uninhabitable. Why on earth would they change?

4. That again would an opinion. It’s a part of Rodimus’ journey, a proving ground. We see him grow as a leader/character through his interaction with Jhiaxus and prepare/hone him for what’s to come. Without the Jhiaxus war, Rodimus would just go straight from elevation to Prime to final battle against the dark heart of themselves.

5. As stated in an earlier reply, he’s there for a reason but I do regret I didn’t have room to expand on his ‘demise’.

6. Nope. I’m very happy with RG1 and RG1 #100.

7. I consider everything I do my best work. Otherwise I don’t deserve to be where I am, doing what I do. I never give less than my all. And in the end, I write the kind of stories I’d want to read myself.

8. No issue with Optimus. But RG1 was ultimately Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime’s story. It always was, even in inception. To me, Op’s story was done back in the first #80 issues. If there’s a regret, it’s that we had to bring him back so quickly after #75.

Well I know the comic is not written for me, but I still liked to think the Simon of yester year would have had more for a great character like Shockwave to do then be stuck to a ship for 18 issues, or have Scorponok stand on a bridge talking about conquering Cybertron instead of actually seeing him do it. No doubt based off your work in Marvel G1 and G2, I have to believe you’d have actually had Shockwave out and about way earlier and Scorponok actually seen ripping people apart. Also the comic isn’t clear that the Underbase did anything to Shockwave or Starscream, if that was the actual case then it should have been executed in the comic better, and to me you prove with your Jhiaxus comment that he was nothing more than a plot device. I don’t consider plot devices true characters, that’s pretty much calling the Michael Bay Formers characters. I’m sorry, but as a fan of these people I’m insulted by what you did with them. I feel so many opportunities were missed. I assume this will be another veiled insult, but I think I’ll just stick with the G1 universe ending with the G2 comic. It was only 12 issues, and even with the rushed last 6, IMO it was a better written TF comic then all of the 20 issues of RG1. Characters were used better, the pacing was better, and there are actual moments I still remember fondly from that. I honestly truely feel that you could have done way better. Again my opinion.

Hey Simon, just wanted to drop you a line and say thank you. I really enjoyed the journey and its conclusion. Part of me is sad that a big part of my childhood is over but I also feel quite fulfilled that I got to see this book reach its true ending. For what its worth, I had a big smile on my face as I closed the book which is all that I could have asked for. Thanks man and best of luck in all your future endeavors.

P.S. Also thanks for shining the spotlight on Rodimus and really showing his potential as a character, I never really felt that the G1 cartoon gave him a fair shake.

I just wanna say thanks to Simon and everyone who worked on these Transformers comics over the past 30 years. I grew up on this generation of comics and it’s been an absolute blast. You gave a lot of food to the imagination of a young boy and i’m thankful that you guys were the ones introducing transformers to me instead of Michael Bay.

Anytime someone tells me that Transformers is just a toy line to make money and you shouldn’t expect so much from the live action movies I tell them to go have a look at how epic these comics were.

That was beautiful work. I’ve enjoyed every issue of RG1. Your writing of characters like Rodimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, and Megatron have been among the best ever written. I was glad that Rodimus Prime was the very last Autobot, he’s always been my favourite Autobot leader.

Thank you.

Just one quick question. Generation One has now ended, but do you see it possible for the Maximals and Predacons to evolve in the future, or do you see the Beast Wars taking place in a more post-G2 universe than an RG1 universe?

Anything’s possible. I kind want people to be able to write their own ‘what happened nexts’ or ‘what happened after they leave Cybertrons’. It’s the end, but you can take your favourite character (if they’re not comprehensively dead) and tell the story of what happened to them.

Just wanted to echo the general good stuff, I really enjoyed this. Made my head hurt imagining how much effort went into tying it all together, very clever! Never really liked Rodimus Prime but you changed that with this series, well written and the final scenes were superb.

I loved the grandeur of the finale, the heady blend of poetry, philosophy and passion. Those final two pages were magnificently, resonantly mythic. This is what is so distinctive of your work with these characters — how you’ve always had a genius for making them vehicles for exploring the perennial problems of morality and meaning. The most literary of topics is death, and this treatment, the sealing of Marvel’s Transformers mythos, such that death is authentically final for these characters is the brilliant move. There are no do-overs, no resurrections possible: dead is dead, and by virtue of such mortality, such finality, moral action is made meaningful. But the difficulty and complexity of living well is recognised — the simple duality of heroic Autobot and evil Decepticon has been transcended. In the end, Rodimus Prime can only hope that he’s lived well. Like in life, so long as one can ask the question, the answer is uncertain. As Solon said, call no man happy until he’s dead. Bravo, Simon et al!

The ending actually moved me; comics usually don’t really have that effect on me: well done.

I too missed some ‘interactions’ between characters ; Fortress Maximus (non-possessed) / Spike. Decepticon-leaders.(especially Megatron taking all back as a leader somehow as I always thought he was to much on the background in the original run. Soundwave / Scorponok..
Characters like Trypticon and Metroplex were missed. More ‘Adventures of Shockwave’ (and Starscream!) More one what happened on Nebulus..
Basically this probably happened when there was more ‘room’ for it.
As a story I do think it’s makes for a far better read on the whole. I really enjoy that.

I’m glad the ending was definite, BUT also plenty of opportunity to tell more stories BEFORE the ending. so,indeed, it never really ends. And I’m really hoping here..

Hi Simon,
I just wanted to thank you for all of the great comics that you have written. Having said that I did have some issues with Regeneration One, but that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I have had 20+ years to formulate my own idea of where the comic was going to go. That aside, a large thank you to you, Bob Budiansky, Andrew Wildman, Jose Delbo, Geoff Senior, Nel Yomtov ( I liked his block coloring) Mark Bright (for that great cover from issue #5) and everyone else who had a hand in making the comic so great. Things were never quite the same after issue 80 came out, but I am glad that I was there to buy all of the issues (I still have them all bagged and boarded ) up until the end. Also, I would like to thank Guido Guidi, John Paul Bove, Chris Mowrey, John Barber and Chris Rtall for their work on Regeneration one. You played a large role in my youth and brought me a lot of happiness with your writing. I remember that I couldn’t wait until the next issue came out. It’s hard to believe that that was so long ago. Again thank you fro playing such a large role in a very great time in my life and making that great time a bit greater :) I could go on and on, but I will just end with THANK YOU!

Hey Simon, thanks for the run, it was fun. You and everyone else on the project made a great job. I would have like the ending better with more time to spend mainly with Prime (the Optimus one) and also the others. It was cut too short imo. But all in all I loved the series, hope, there will be more to come from you all later! 8)

Big BIG thanks to everyone who posted kind words here and elsewhere on other sites/forums. For every one who didn’t like it, two others seemed to really dig it/get it. And thanks to everyone who either supported the original petition or followed RG1 throughout (or did both). CHEERS!

Simon, I’m waiting for the trade of the last story, but your mission is accomplished. Thank you for bringing back my memories. For new look on old legendary series.

I wish some characters were used in either way (Ratchet, Springer, Fort Max) or used for bigger roles (Jazz), but overall – it’s your vision and I’m always open to read what you’ve written. The ending I know from spoilers looks great. It’s bittersweet. Sad but noble. More and more I think about it – it’s like it should be. If you don’t mind I’ll give you more thoughts about it after read my copy in May/June.

Thank you and the whole creative team (special thanks to Mr. Guidi for his touch:-) for two years of emotions, hopes and joy..

I just wanted to add my voice to those saying thanks Simon. RG1 was a fun ride that really did hark back to old TF stories. I love the new stuff coming out of IDW, but RG1 was much closer to my kind of TF.

Hoping for more TF stories from you in the near future? That would be great!

Since we now know what awoke Galvatron, would it be a fair bet that the same force was the one that woke up Megatron from the ark, and made him act like such a mad dog? It would make sense now that we know the whole story…isn’t what Megatron did to Earth the same as what Galvatron was made to do to Nebulos?

Simon, now that it’s over, can you tell us what elements of RG1 go back to ideas you had for where you wanted to go with the original series before it was cancelled? For instance, was it always your intention before you got word of the cancellation to follow up Optimus Prime’s death with the transformation of Hot Rod to Rodimus Prime? When you wrote #75, did you have a rough idea of what you’d do over the next two years in the run up to #100?

What’s curious to me that a lot of the posts I’ve read have seemed to suggest that the Dark Matrix creature came out of the ether, and never really featured in my original run on the book. But it was there a lot, and it was always my intention to bring it back in a big way as the story rolled on (past #75 and beyond the #80 that would have been if we were just carrying on regardless). It begins in #65, when the Matrix discovers evil. It explores. It restores the Deathbringer (in the UK story, but I intentionally reference it here to pull that story into the US continuity), then It transforms the lifeform and attacks Grimlock. It possesses Thunderwing. It restores Thunderwing in #73 and attacks in #75, only to be purged by Optimus Prime. But that bit of it that survived in the Deathbringer was always my wild card, and the seeds of that were dropped almost immediately in #75’s epilogue/prologue page. And yeah, the original idea was not to bring back Optimus Prime at all, but push the story on to reach Rodimus Prime.

Quote “And yeah, the original idea was not to bring back Optimus Prime at all, but push the story on to reach Rodimus Prime.” End Quote.

Wow thats interesting to read Simon. Its such a shame that Marvel didnt allow it to continue until #100 back in the day as Im sure we would have been in for some fun! Im sure Ratchet would not have been killed off either, nor Megatron scortch the Earth like it did.

I enjoyed ReGen it brought me back to my childhood of the original Marvel continuity, but I agree with others that certain parts of the storyline were there for the sake of it (Scorponok/Jhaixus). It would better have been used to concentrate on Megatrons rise to power, Galvatrons return, and Bludgeons attempts at revenge and of course the Starscream/Shockwave dynamic.

Truly the end of an era now though and at least we can all draw a line in the sand……

Hi Simon, just wanted to say thank you for Regeneration 100 and what I thought was a great and poignant ending. I have just finished reading it so I’ll have to take more time to mull it over in my mind and decide how it fits into context with the other Marvel endings, UK332 and G2. But I especially wanted to say thank you for the Ravage text story at the back. It really captured the essence of Ravage. There seem to be some noisy naysayers but I just wanted to add my voice to those who appreciated this series. It may not have been an ending to the UK series (I guess G2 can fill that role), but it was a good ending to the US run at least. So thank you Simon.

Simon any chance we can have a Limited 4 issue series filling in the gaps in the 20 year gap between #80 and #81? It would be nice to see the full story of Megatron’s return and how he decimated the Earth using the Ark/Auntie/Shockwave. Also how he subdugated Ratchet and Starscream to his will. And how he ground the human race under his feet. Buster and Spikes fight for survival. And the last stand of the original Fortress Maximus.

Just for the sake of scale, I’d like a ‘what if’ issue dealing with events that would’ve occured if the Dark Matrix Creature HAD made the crossing into the Multiverse. I wonder if it would only succeed in realities bereft of a Primus or a Unicron or simply grow into something completely unstoppable?

Simon…what can I say? I began reading the Marvel TF comics as a child, loved them, but can vividly remember your taking the reins, and loving them even more! The stories and art improved dramatically! And I have very much enjoyed revisiting this world, and find it (more so than I anticipated) very sad to see it at conclusion. At age 31, is it a bit silly for me to feel sad?

Let me say this: You’ve done something I never thought possible…since the launch of RG1, I got to delve, once again, into the Generation One characters and lore I so loved growing up, and perhaps for the last time (unless you feel like tying up some loose ends from the cartoon!). That was very special for me. Thanks for the ride!

Hi simon,
Well it is finally over.. What a great 22 issues we just had, it flew by.
Like Dave I love the idea of a mini series on how Megaton took control of Earth or Rhymes of Darkness time line.
What are the chances of that..?
Having met you, Geoff and Stephen at London film comic con ( Stephen drew me a great picture of Galvatron, top bloke!!) I’m gutted I won’t be able to meet you all on march 29th, will there be any other dates?
would love to meet the wildman.
will you all be at auto assembly?
Can understand some of the moans of how characters were used, but come on people, we got 21 months of pure nostalgia!
I hope simon you get to do more work on re/generation one it’s been great, until then a big thank you to you and the team, I’ll get a round in next time I see you!
Til then..
Make mine furman!

Haven’t actually read the physical issue yet, but I have read the synopsis on the Transformers Wiki. And I must say that I was surprised – in a very good way. The DMC was certainly there since waybackwhen, and the idea of Zero Space (and the reason for it) is really smart. And the final sacrifice is just so right: exactly the sort of noble act the Primes would commit themselves to. All in all, a great ending to one of the stories that has inspired me the most since my childhood. Thank you, Mr Furman!

Wow. I cannot believe that it is over. Thank you. Thank you so so so much!!!!

I have loved and enjoyed Regen from beginning to end. I read a lot of comics but this is by far my favorite comic series of all time (tied with #56-80 of the Marvel run).

The ReGen series has been truly amazing for me to read.

We were able to see:

-The Last Autobot used as a redeclaration of war.

-The best battle between Optimus and Megatron ever. It was perfect to see Kup pull the trigger on Ratchet after he said “Would you want to live like that?” when faced with MegaRatchet so long ago.

-Thunderwing’s remains.

-Spike and what happens when we leave Earth alone for too long without checking up on them.

-Scorponok’s Return and take over of Cybertron.

-The Wreckers in full force.

-Galvatron’s return, battle with Magnus (WOW!), take over of Nebulos.

-Grimlock battle the other dinobots.

-Primordials and their backstory.

-New lore with the sword and shield of Primus/Cybertron.

-Introduction of the Rodimus Prime.

-Introduction of the multiverse.

-The Blaster and Soundwave battle we always wanted.

-Starscream and the Underbase.

-Shockwave/the Ark and gaining emotions (Data!)

-Jhiaxis, the Hub Network, and future transformers.

-The Dark Matrix Creature pulling so many strings at one time.

-The best ending that we could have asked for.

All of this (and probably something I am leaving out!) in 22 issues!!!!!!!!

I could not wait to read the final chapter to this epic. I loved the winks to other transformers series (cartoon, movie, past comics). The story was grandiose and only a genius writer could have put all of that together.

It was obvious how it all came together by the end and how the seeds of the past had grown immeasurably. Anyone who didn’t “get it” needs to reread the from #56-100 until they do. I was definitely moved by the last two pages of #100.

So thank you Simon, Andrew, and everyone else that worked on ReGeneration One. I got to look at life again through my younger self if even for only little bit of time as I read and turned the pages.

I have sat back and have given a lot of thought to the series as a whole and what I feel about it.
In my opinion Generation 2 was a better conclusion to the original,as compared to RG1. ReGeneration One had many flaws,but I don’t what to list them all,I just want to address the major one. The major flaw was EXPECTATION, everybody had in their own mind how it should of been written. We have all in one way or an other,over the past 20 years wrote our own versions of the story,and we expected Simon to do it our way….and that is the flaw.
Simon wrote it as he saw it,and yes it differed from how I saw it, and how you saw it ,but it is his story ,like it or not.
In my perfect word G2 would of either been incorporated into the story,or like I was hoping for when I first singed the petition,it would of been a prequel to G2. But that was a little unrealistic of me to think.The only real question was,what happened on the Ark before the events of G2 ,and to be honest,that would of only taken one issue to tell, not 20. So Simon made the right decision not to be confined to those boundaries, and threw out G2,at first I was disappointed but I now understand.
So everybody give Simon the credit he deserves, and stop pointing out all the little things. He took a series that rightfully came to an end in 1991 and resurrected it. He brought back some old friends and stories, that without ReGeneration One we would’ve never seen again. So we may all have our perfect TF story in our minds,but it was always Simon that gave that spark to our imagination in the first place.
Thank you Simon for given an enjoyable series and bringing me back too those good old times again.

Really good post michaelal. I fall into the camp of those who thought Regeneration One was the superior continuation but that aside, I echo your sentiments wholeheartedly.
There were two things in Regen One that dashed my hopes; 1 – I thought Galvatron would be MUCH more powerful and central to the overall plot (the way in which he was finally defeated didn’t sit well with me at all). 2 – Call me a traditionalist but I didn’t like Rodimus Prime becoming the Autobot leader (although the way in which he became Prime was very, very cool). There is a part of me that can understand why some might be a bit tired of Optimus Prime because he’s been the figurehead for just about every single iteration of TF I can think of. But in my opinion, the Marvel version is and always be the real Optimus. Wise, brave, noble and ceaslessly torn between his genuine pacifism and the need to employ force against those who oppress and murder in the name of conquest. I definitely wish he had been the main character.

Was Regeneration One worse off for these things not happening though? In my honest assessment…no because upon reflection, I can’t think of many stories I’ve read where every little thing transpires in exact accordance with my personal wishes. If I allowed this to detract from my overall enjoyment, then I might as well give up on reading books/comics and watching films altogether.

It WAS great to see the old gang back in action again but beyond fuzzy nostagia, I continued with the series because it was epic, mysterious and, at times, thrilling just like it used to be. Now it’s over it is with a heavy heart that I acknowlege that there will never be anything quite like it again.

Just finishing reading the last 10 issues (I feel behind, and they’ve been sitting and waiting). Quite the ride there, with some unexpected twists. Thank you for finally completing the journey started so long ago.

A little late to the end party, life has been intervening (still is), but I finally finished the series. Great, trippy run, and now I’ll have to go back and read them all with a calmer mind. I am wondering how, if you’d had time, you would have ended such things as The Mechanic, the Spacehikers, and so forth. Or are you not allowed to give your ideas for that in public? (I’d consider it an early birthday present if you did) Anyway, I really did like the idea of the DM coming back. This all even tied into how Primus was oblivious to certain things at the end of the original run, and how Optimus wondered what kind of god would be that absent minded. Also, one of the three faux primes looked a bit like Powermaster prime. Intentional, I assume?

Hi Simon, here’s a question…
If IDW Rodimus helped fight the DMC, would that have any impact on the character in the current IDW continuity? Has that been discussed with James Roberts, or John Barber? It might be a nice way to link the multiverses.

I don’t want to “troll” here on Simon’s own blog but I think regeneration one was a very mixed bag and I doubt it’s accurate to reckon two thirds of fans enjoyed it. From #65 to #80 Simon and Andrew were red-hot, and Simon’s Marvel UK work is of course almost uniformly fabulous – but in my opinion regeneration one never matched up. I remain convinced that this time round Andrew decided he was going to spend less time on the art, which I don’t think was in the spirit of the original petition. As for the writing, things like Sparks and destroyed-Earth and resurrecting Scorponok were so contrary to the original 80 issues that I can understand why some fans felt aggrieved. Excluding Marvel UK from the continuity was also pretty disappointing – Simon had spent years working hard to make it all (more or less( hang together. Why give up on that when (for the first time ever?) he had creative control? Ultimately there were few very issues of regeneration one that I felt like reading/looking at more than once (until Guido came on board anyway) and that tells its own story. As I mentioned I am not on here to troll, just express my views, and thanks again to Simon for many an amazing Transformers tale over the years.

rg1 was only to make rodimus,ultra magnus,kup,shockwave and starscream and the dinobots look good.everyone else was put out in a stupid way,the decepticons were clowns in this run ,galvatron`s death sucked,magnus should have got it too but no he stood there looking good,sorry but rg1 has nothing to do with the marvel run and has many contradictions.and worst of all the two traitors star and shock live happily ever after,what a letdown.

well in 20 years this will be considered one of the better transformer stories just like we see g1, and the uk series as classics so this will be, r1 is very futuristic and yes can’t agree with everything but still lets see yuou try and write it better I tried imagining my own continuations from issue 80 the stuff you had to deal with simon could have went other ways. lets see you had nucleon, the meghatron ratchet solution, bludgeon’s cons on the loose shockweave, staRSCREAM, PRIME, GRIMLOCK AND YES YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH ALL THIS A 100 ISSUES WAS’NT ENOUGH THEN TRYING TO PUT JHIAXUS, AND THE WRECKERS IN AND ITS COMPLICATED ONLY QUESTION WAS WHEN WAS INFERNO AFFECTED BY NUCLEON.

the whole rg1 was grimlock,ultra magnus ,rodimus,kup shockwave and starscream in the spotlight nothing happened to these characters,everyone else got the ax,looks more like a clint eastwood and chuck Norris film,so in 20 yrs lets see if it`s a classic or not.

I really enjoyed Regeneration One. Found it even more enjoyable reading it the second time around (so many little things I missed the first time). Thanks for giving the original series the proper send-off it deserved, Simon.